2011 Connected Data Improves Refinery Operation
2011 Connected Data Improves Refinery Operation
2011 Connected Data Improves Refinery Operation
operations
Connecting data with a common knowledge management platform improves
visibility, response, and analysis to benefit refinery operations
JEFFREY ZURLO
GE Water & Process Technologies
T
he transition from board- create an ‘Industrial Internet of need for running miles of wires
mounted, pneumatic Things’. Connecting these data and cables. The increase in
refinery controls to elec- sources allows more rapid, sensors is already happening
tronic distributed control more transparent, and remote today – the average refinery
system (DCS)-centred control evaluation of system perfor- has seen a five-fold increase in
and data historian systems that mance, automated application the number of sensors
started to become popular in of proprietary analytic algo- deployed over just the last five
the 1970s has helped refinery rithms, and other system years.1 The trend to increase
operations improve produc- analyses that were impossible measurements via the use of
tion, reliability, and product to do previously. The increase sensors and other on-line
yield optimisation. However, in analysis and performance equipment is expected to
still today much of the data measurements provides signifi- continue for some time as the
originating from vendor service cant opportunities to better digitisation of industrial plants
companies remains locked optimise reliability and profita- provides another leap in
away in proprietary systems bility for these once isolated productivity and efficiency.
that are shared typically only systems. Robust data systems and
as periodic snapshots of perfor- There are several factors that large data storage capacity are
mance – collectively referred to are leading to this leap in tech- needed to handle the addi-
as ‘dark data’. Dark data in a nological capability. First, the tional data streams generated
refinery often includes infor- cost to produce sensors contin- as sensors and measurements
mation about the performance ues to drop and the variety of increase. Luckily, the cost of
of specialty chemical programs, operational and physical data storage has also dropped
equipment vibration monitor- parameters that can be meas- considerably to economically
ing, corrosion measurements, ured with sensors continues to accommodate the increased
inspection readings, and many increase. This allows more data load. Additionally, cloud
other ‘non-core’ areas of refin- sensors to be deployed in more based storage solutions are
ery operations. In the last places in a refinery, making becoming more popular daily,
several years, new sensors, visible what was previously it seems, opening up even
controllers, and data handling unmeasurable. In addition to greater storage and processing
infrastructures have been sensor technology, wireless capacity. While cyber security
under development to connect transmission has become is still a concern for refiners
this once dark data with the cheaper and more reliable, and industry,2 as security
traditional refinery operating allowing reduced cost of measures are improved there is
data as part of the movement installing sensors and main- a trend in the industry to allow
by dozens of companies to taining connection without the data to be transmitted ‘beyond
CT 5 supply pH
(bleach skid)
Replacing water in the 11.2
make-up line with caustic over-
whelmed the control system, 9.8
resulting in an almost immedi- HH
8.4 H
ate increase in pH of the tower L
LL
above 12 pH (see Figure 3). 7.0
Sensing the system was out of
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control, the cloud based plat-
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form issued an alarm to the
local account team via email, Figure 3 Cooling tower pH measurement
text, and direct system alert.
The account team was on-site brought the system back the problem. The function of a
and immediately contacted the under control in a shorter time remote monitoring centre is
unit operators, who were than would have otherwise similar to the operations central
unaware of the issue, as a field been possible, and good plant control room staff at a refinery,
inspection round had been communication enabled quick but focused on the systems the
completed just before the inci- identification and correction of vendor helps to service and
dent occurred. The local the root cause to remove the generally do not have direct
vendor team and the operators caustic from the make-up control on the process manipu-
responded to the condition by water line. A high pH event of lated variables, just visibility to
verifying the condition was this magnitude in a cooling the system conditions. Also,
real via hand measurement at system would typically result support staff can more easily
the cooling tower basin, in widespread scaling of heat and more routinely access the
making aggressive system exchange equipment and information for a given
changes to reduce the pH of reduced unit run length. This refinery, typically through a
the cooling water back to the would cost a refinery signifi- secure password-protected web
normal control range to cant lost opportunity dollars portal. This allows additional
prevent scaling, and communi- from energy efficiency loss or oversight by people with the
cating to other plant personnel unplanned outages, but was right skill set to supplement
to identify and correct the root avoided by quick event recog- the expertise provided by the
cause of the problem. Since nition and rapid response to local service and support team.
cooling water pH was identi- get the system back under
fied as a critical alarm for this control. Case 2: identifying and correcting a
system, the vendor’s remote chronic operating issue via pattern
central monitoring centre was Increase the layers of recognition
also directly alerted by the protection through additional Shortly after commissioning a
system to ensure that the local monitoring and analysis by off- continuous, on-line chloride
personnel and customer were site personnel analyser in a crude unit atmos-
aware and corrective actions Connecting data on a cloud pheric tower overhead system
were being taken. based platform allows the crea- at a North American refinery,
As a result of the systems in tion of a remote monitoring one of the vendor’s off-site
place, the upset condition was centre or centres, staffed by regional engineers noticed a
identified in minutes instead vendor personnel to provide an repeated pattern of high chlo-
of hours; it would have been additional layer of oversight on ride excursions on an otherwise
several hours until the opera- system performance and act as fairly well controlled system. As
tor was scheduled to a command centre during can be seen in Figure 4, these
physically monitor the cooling system upsets to help ensure excursions were occurring once
tower again. Rapid response local personnel are aware of or twice a week, have very
31
HH Expanded analytics improve
H insight to system performance
0 L Proprietary analytics previ-
ously required someone to
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collate and organise data from
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This proved to be very useful
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when the waste treatment area
started experiencing significant
but intermittent operational Figure 6 Desalter to waste treatment correlation
issues in the activated sludge
clarifier area. The biological clarifiers, it was difficult to developed at the waste treat-
system was generating an detect the correlation using ment plant to better handle
excessive amount of bulking just historical trend analysis. high organic acid feed rates
bacteria, swelling clarifier beds Organic acid programmes are that involved more aggressive
and preventing effective sludge used at the desalter to improve operating changes and use of
settling. This caused difficulty desalter performance in the acid injection dashboard
meeting waste treatment final response to a need for data as an ‘early warning’
effluent water quality, which controlling desalter pH due to system. As a result of
required emergency measures increased desalter pH and improved operational control
to be taken to avoid environ- contaminant levels at the crude and increased communication
mental penalties. units as a result of expanding across operating areas of the
The vendor’s corporate refin- the crude diet to process tight refinery, waste treatment clari-
ery wastewater SME, in oils and other crude oils not fier operation has improved
addition to the local vendor historically processed at this significantly and is no longer
personnel and refinery staff, refinery. Due to the strong considered an operational
investigated the issue to deter- economic incentive to process bottleneck, preserving flexibil-
mine root cause and corrective these opportunity crudes, a ity in operation and crude oil
actions. Using the connected solution that would preserve purchases and maintaining
data system allowed rapid crude oil flexibility and good quality brine from the
application of multivariate improve waste treatment oper- desalters.
regression analytics for data ations was desired.
associated with refinery opera- As a result of the analysis, Improve integrity and
tions and the waste treatment tighter control of acid feed was economic operating windows
performance. Among all the initiated at the crude units to Crude tower operations are
operating data considered, a limit total stress on the waste faced with several constraints,
strong correlation was identi- treatment plant and communi- including operating windows,
fied between injection of cations were improved by economic demands, and
organic acids at the crude unit adding total organic acid feed several factors that can affect
desalters for pH and contami- rates to the daily dashboard reliability and efficiency. Using
nant control with the increase reporting system. When high connected data and taking
in clarifier bulking (see Figure injection rates at the crude advantage of Big Data analysis
6). Due to the large lag time units are necessary based on techniques, an analyst can now
between the injection at the crude unit conditions, an oper- develop more dynamic analytic
desalter and the effect at the ational response plan was analyses to simultaneously
OHD_T
negative impact on reliability.
In fact, the plant confirmed 120
that overhead fouling and
corrosion did take place during 110
this period of operation. Note
that the chart compares over- 100
head temperature to reflux 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000
Reflux
rate, but the analytic calculates
salt formation potential scalar
fields around the variation of Figure 7 Base case: salting condition, 40% fractional salting
all considered operating
parameters.
150
2. Calculate the sensitivity that
changing any specific opera-
tional handles, both average 140